13 Jun 2026

Waves and Oscillations Standard Problems

Standard competitive exam problems in waves and oscillations with answer key.

waves oscillations gate-2024 csir-net-2023 jest-2022

These are original standard problems based on frequently tested competitive-exam patterns.

Q: For a simple harmonic oscillator, angular frequency is
A: $\sqrt{k/m}$
B: $\sqrt{m/k}$
C: $k/m$
D: $m/k$
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: GATE 2024 style
---
Q: The wave speed on a stretched string with tension $T$ and linear density $\mu$ is
A: $\sqrt{T/\mu}$
B: $\sqrt{\mu/T}$
C: $T\mu$
D: $T/\mu^2$
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: CSIR-NET 2023 style
---
Q: In a standing wave, adjacent nodes are separated by
A: $\lambda$
B: $\lambda/2$
C: $\lambda/4$
D: $2\lambda$
ANSWER: B
SOURCE: JEST 2022 style
---
Q: The quality factor $Q$ of a lightly damped oscillator is approximately
A: $\omega_0/(2\beta)$
B: $2\beta/\omega_0$
C: $\omega_0\beta$
D: $1/\omega_0$
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: GATE 2021 style
---
Q: The Doppler shift for a source moving toward a stationary observer causes observed frequency to
A: increase
B: decrease
C: become zero
D: become imaginary
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: CSIR-NET 2020 style
---
Q: The energy of a simple harmonic oscillator is proportional to
A: amplitude
B: amplitude squared
C: inverse amplitude
D: phase only
ANSWER: B
SOURCE: GATE style
---
Q: At resonance in a lightly damped driven oscillator, the response amplitude is
A: usually maximum
B: always zero
C: independent of damping
D: imaginary only
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: CSIR-NET style
---
Q: The group velocity is defined as
A: $d\omega/dk$
B: $\omega/k$
C: $dk/d\omega$
D: $\omega k$
ANSWER: A
SOURCE: JEST style

Problem Sheet Standard MCQs